A virtue called "Patience"
The disclaimer: “Do not judge me based on what I can or cannot do in the household. I am not good at doing small things that you take for granted — household chores, lawncare, garage stuff, electrical etc.”
The story: Two days ago one of my fire alarms in the house started chirping. It was a while (actually, make it never) since I changed the batteries, so my natural instinct was to change the battery. I went and bought a generic 9V battery from walgreens and installed it. But the alarm did not stop chirping. I opened up the casing and looked for any instructions and realized that they recommend specific brands of batteries (Duracell was one of them). So, I went and bought the most powerful Duracell 9V batteries available west of 185th Avenue. To my utter annoyance, the gizmo did not stop chirping. After trying out two other batteries I finally opened the manual that our previous owners graciously left in the house.
The climax: There it was, part of the instructions — “IF AFTER BATTERY REPLACEMENT, THE UNIT CONTINUES TO CHIRP, WAIT FOR APPROXIMATELY 7 MINUTES. THE “HUST” FEATURE MAY HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED ACCIDENTALLY WHILE CHANGING THE BATTERIES AND WILL RESET AUTOMATICALLY.
(All caps emphasis is not mine; it was in the manual)
The moral(s): Patience is always a virtue; waiting 7 minutes in this case could have saved me a lot of heartache.
Other morals:
- Do more household chores
- Read manuals (this is a toughie for the guys)
- Help the wife with cooking
- Buy her all the gifts and jewelry she wants
- Listen to her attentively all the time
- Do not offer the wife any quick-fix advice (even when solicited)
(my wife added the last 4, even though they don't have anything to do with the story above)